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6 Select the volume to map or mount and select an unused drive letter on the host system.
7 (Optional) On a Windows host, if you do not want the drive to open in Windows Explorer after it is
mapped, deselect the Open drive in Windows Explorer after mapping check box.
8 Click OK or Mount.
The drive appears on the host system. You can read from or write to files on the mapped virtual disk on
the host system.
Disconnect a Virtual Disk from the Host System
To use a virtual disk from a virtual machine after it has been mapped or mounted on the host system, you must
disconnect it from the host system.
On Windows hosts, you must use Player to disconnect the drive from the host system. The mapped drive letter
does not appear in the list of network drives when you use the Windows Disconnect Network Drive command.
Procedure
1 Select the virtual machine and select Virtual Machine > Virtual Machine Settings.
2 On the Hardware tab, select Hard Disk, click Utilities, and select Disconnect.
You can now power on any virtual machine that uses this disk.
Add a Host Printer to a Virtual Machine
You can print from a virtual machine to any printer available to the host computer without having to install
additional drivers in the virtual machine.
The Player printer feature uses ThinPrint technology to replicate the host system printer mapping in the virtual
machine. When you enable the virtual machine printer, Player configures a virtual serial port to communicate
with the host printers.
Procedure
1 Select the virtual machine and select Virtual Machine > Virtual Machine Settings.
2 On the Hardware tab, select Add.
3 In the Add Hardware wizard, select Printer and Finish.
The default device setting is to connect the virtual machine printer when the virtual machine is powered
on.
Using Removable Devices in Virtual Machines
You can use removable devices such as floppy drives, DVD and CD-ROM drives, USB devices, and smart card
readers in virtual machines.
Some devices cannot be used by the host system and a guest operating system, or by multiple guest operating
systems, simultaneously.
For example, if the host system is using a floppy drive, you must connect the floppy drive to the virtual machine
before you can use it in the virtual machine. To use the floppy drive on the host again, you must disconnect it
from the virtual machine. By default, a floppy drive is not connected when a virtual machine powers on.
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Use a Removable Device in a Virtual Machine on page 49
You can connect and disconnect removable devices in a virtual machine. You can also change the settings
for a removable device by modifying virtual machine settings.
Getting Started with VMware Player
48 VMware, Inc.